Subject of:
by Your Anonymous
Summary: When sought after by many a man, you begin to tire of them. What will it take to shake you out of that rut? War? Love? Or both? FlorinaxNinian. A tad OOC. Err...discontinued for now.
1. Abrupt meeting

_**Subject of:**_

Chapter 1- Abrupt meeting

Ninian sighed dejectedly, sitting alone in her tent. Her entire body spoke volumes of its misery, her shoulders hunched, her eyed sad. 'Why can't he just leave me alone?' she wondered. A sudden voice outside of her tent broke her out of her melancholy thoughts. "Ninian? Ninian, are you in there?" 'Crap' she thought, jumping up and pressing herself into the darkest corner of her tent. 'That boy does _not_ give up.' "Ninian?" Eliwood's head poked inside and Ninian drew in her breath, praying to St. Emmiline that he wouldn't notice her.

"Come on, Eliwood, she's probably down by the river" Hector called from outside. Taking one last sweep around the tent, Eliwood left with Hector.

Ninian let her breath out in an explosive sigh, one hand grasping at the tent flak behind her. 'Strange,' she pondered as her hand grasped air, 'There must be something behind the tent.'

Florina gasped silently as she felt a small, lithe body press against hers. She stood rock still, feeling the body heat radiate off the other person, until she started when she heard Sain's voice. "Florina?! Oh beautiful flower, where are you?!" He trotted by on his horse, looking wildly about for Florina. 'Are girls _all_ he ever thinks about?' She thought exasperatedly, trying to make herself as small as possible. Unfortunately, the other body was in the way and all she ended up pushing their forms even closer. "Florina!" Sain called again, his voice miraculously becoming quieter as he rode away from her. She leaned back against the tent in relief, and promptly fell through to the other side.

Ninian, deciding to discover what was on the other side of her tent, got up and was suddenly alerted by a loud _rip_ before being bowled over by someone not much larger than her. They landed in an undignified heap, facing each other with Ninian on top. After a few awkward seconds, their faces flushed brilliantly and they scrambled to get off each other only to end up in an even more scandalous position, with Ninian's hands straying close to the girl's breasts and the other's hand wandering dangerously close to her nether regions. Finally, Ninian said, "You go right and I go left," and they carefully got off each other, blushing even more from their lingering touches. "I-I guess I should introduce myself, after I fell on you," said the other girl, tentively sticking out her hand. "I'm Florina." "Ninian," she said, taking Florina's hand. It was extremely soft, but slightly calloused from fighting Ninian guessed. Oddly reluctant to release Florina's hand, she- CRASH.

They raced outside, Florina whistling for her Pegasus, to see their encampment under attack. Bandits and mercenaries swept through, slaying people as they came out of their tents. Resistance was scattered as many had followed their own vendettas out of camp, and the few there was were either injured or badly outnumbered. Florina's Pegasus swooped down just as a mercenary ran up to the girls, sword poised to strike. Acting quickly, Florina grabbed a Steel Lance from her packs and thrust it through the mercenary's stomach, killing him instantly. She yanked it out and, hurriedly grabbing Ninian, jumped on her Pegasus and took off, subconsciously holding onto Ninian to make sure she didn't fall. They encircled the camp and helped where they could, until landing by a corpse of trees.

Suddenly, a voice came out of the woods. "My my, what do we have here," it said. A dozen bandits dropped out of the trees and slowly circled them, jeering and swinging their axes about. One, who appeared to be the leader, called out, "Alright lads, you know the drill, kill the warriors and kidnap the girls." That was, until he spotted Florina's perky breasts from under her armor. "Scratch that," he yelled, "Capture and rape 'em both! The more the merrier, eh?"

Florina clenched her teeth and growled, "Ninian, back up against the tree. No matter what happens," she turned to stare at Ninian, "Don't go out from behind me." Turning to select an Axereaver from her pack Florina missed the look Ninian gave her. Once the bandits saw that she intended to fight them, their looks turned incredulous and many began to laugh.

A man stepped forward and said in an Illian accent, "Ay lads, a've seen this 'un afore. She scared o' men. 'Til only take one o' us to… tame 'er. As he finished, his brawny hands tightened around his axe and as he swung it upon Florina, a childhood memory crashed up into her consciousness.

_Two blue- haired girls pulled another between them, urging her to keep up__ as they ran into the forest. 'C'mon Florina, we're almost there!' one yelled, and, giving one final tug of strength, pulled the other two into a clearing. At the sight before them they froze. A man, a bandit by the state of his clothes __lying__ off to the side, held a woman under him as he stripped her of her clothing. She tried valiantly to shove him off, but he was far too large. With the last remains of the woman's clothes cast aside, the bandit reared back and thrust himself deep inside her, __grinning cruelly at her scream of pain. Florina let out a small gasp of terror when she saw blood flow forth from the woman's legs. Without pause the bandit pulled back out slammed harder into her, repeating the process over and until with a shudder and a yell of pleasure they both came._

_All three sisters stared blankly in shock until the bandit looked around and noticed them.__ 'Well well,' he said, his voice still husky. 'More customers.' Florina was brutally snapped out of her trance when the bandit grabbed her, flinging the other to into the trees. From the sharp _cracks_ she heard, she knew they wouldn't be up for a while. 'Ay girly girly' the bandit taunted, 'Wanna play?' He ripped off her sundress-_


	2. Bandit battle

**Hey this is Your Anonymous. I haven't figured out exactly how to upload new chapters, but I hope I'll figure out soon. Enjoy and review! **

_-sundress __and lowered himself to her. Just as his tip penetrated her, a hoof came flying out and walloped him in the head, sending him flying across the clearing. A Pegasus reared into view, flailing appendages aiming for the bandit. Trumpets sounded in the distance. Taking once last look at Florina, the bandit spat, 'I won't ferget this girly. You'll pay!' _

Florina swept up her Axereaver up just in time to save herself from impalement. Up close, she could see the imprint of the Pegasus hoof unhealed from many years before. "You see tha'" gritted the bandit, shoving all his strength into his axe. "'Tis my reminder to finish what I started." Suddenly Florina angled her Axereaver to the side and whipped up the other end to strike his on the head. With a sudden lunge she toppled him to the ground and sliced his neck, making his head loll uselessly to the side. The other bandits, upon seeing the death of one of their own, came rushing forward to kill with all thoughts of rape forgotten.

'I must be able to help _somehow_' fretted Ninian from her place against the tree. 'I could dance, but I gave Nils all of my artifacts. Maybe…' Looking up into the tree she was backed against, she saw bunches upon bunches of pinecones. 'They'll have to do' she thought grimly and hoisted herself into the tree.

Florina parried another swing from a bandit, wishing more than anything for a better location. Cornered into trees, her Pegasus couldn't help much and she wasn't used to fighting on the ground. Only two more bandits lay slain at her feet and she was begging to feel fatigue. It showed in her fighting with slower blocks and weak thrusts, often giving her numerous wounds from not blocking in time. Suddenly a pinecone whizzed past her head to whack a bandit in the face, leaving a bloody trail as it slid off his face. A dozen more followed into the ranks of the bandits, enticing screams of pain and rage as more followed. Taking advantage the bandits' temporary distraction Florina ran through the one nearest to her and whirled to behead another. With a cry of anger the bandits noticed her and attacked again, trying to ignore the pinecones. When one bandit chopped at her she brought up her Axereaver, but watched in horror as it crumbled in her hands.

Seeing his master's distress Florina's Pegasus charged to her, scattering any in his way. With trembling hands Florina took a Steel Lance from her satchel and turned to face the seven remaining bandits.

From her spot high up in the tree Ninian could see Eliwood and Hector trudging up from the river and for once she was glad to see them. She waved her arms and yelled, hoping to get their attention, but the two friends where too engrossed in conversation. All too aware of the desperate battle below, she scurried up higher and selected a large pinecone, wincing as it scratched her scars from other pinecones. Taking careful aim she threw it with all of her strength and a cry of "HEY, RETARDS!!!" Hector finally looked up and was rewarded with a pinecone in the face. Eliwood saw Ninian waving madly in a tree and correctly guessing she was in trouble raced toward the fray.

With the reinforcement of first Eliwood and then Hector the bandits soon lay dead on the forest floor. Ninian clambered down from the tree and rushed to Florina's side, gasping in shock at the state of Florina. She was completely covered in blood, most of it hers, and she was just saved from nudity from the armor hanging limply off her body. Her eyes were unfocused, slipping in and out of consciousness. Finally she collapsed onto her Pegasus and didn't get up.


	3. Buddy stytem

**Chapters 1 and 2 were originally going to be chapter 1 but… it didn't turn out that way. So here is chapter 2! (3?) **

**And, yeah, I forgot the disclaimers of the last chapters so here it is and for this chapter too: I do not in any way, shape, or form own Fire Emblem. (But if I did there'd be at least one gay couple. ALL the ones in the game that I found are straight. **

"Serra? Serra! Where the heck are you?" Hector yelled as the foursome burst into camp. Florina was still dangling limply from her Pegasus and the other three didn't look to good either. Serra looked up from healing a nasty gash in Lowen's arm and instantly ran to assist. "Oh my god! What the heck happened to you guys? Whatever, doesn't matter right now. Eliwood, Hector, go see Priscilla- Ninian, help me get Florina to her tent." Eliwood stood baffled for a second before voicing his thoughts. "Wouldn't it be easier for Hector and I to move Florina?" "No, you pervert!" cried Serra. "She has no decent clothes! AND, how do you expect me to take care of my patient when she wakes up and you two are there? Hmm? No, I don't think you thought of that. Now shoo!" Without further ado Serra marched off, half- dragging Ninian and Florina behind her.

"Lay her down gently, that's good," Serra cautioned as they laid Florina down. Blushing slightly, Serra continued, "We need to take off the rest of her armor to treat her." Soon the armor was off and the wounds under it revealed. "She has four broken ribs, one that punctured her lung, a shattered metacarpal in her right hand, heavy blood loss centered around the head, three broken fingers, and multiple bruises," said Serra in her diagnoses. Taking a Mend from its place against her hip Serra began healing Florina, working slowly to make sure she missed nothing. However, just when Serra got to her broken ribs Florina woke up and immediately screamed from the pain. Worse, she started thrashing about, reopening many gashes and spouting blood over her two caretakers.

"Ninian! Quick, hold her down!" yelled Serra frantically. Ninian swiftly topped Florina, grabbing her wrists with her hands and locking their ankles. So close to Florina she could hear her rapidly beating heart, see the sweat mixing with the blood. A dilemma presented itself when Florina's screams continued. "Ninian, get her to be quiet! There may still be bandits about and we can't face them like this!" cried Serra. Ninian took stock of the situation. Her hands and feet where occupied, and she doubted her head would fit in Florina's small mouth. The only body part close to her mouth was Ninian's neck, and she figured it would have to do. Looking directly into Florina wide fearful eyes, which were darting about as if seeing some unknown threat Ninian said softly, "Florina, listen to me. You need to do exactly what I tell you to." She didn't look away until she extracted a nod of acceptance from Florina. Blushing slightly Ninian continued, "Bite my neck." The ensuing silence was awkward at best, and even Serra looked up from her work to see what was happening. Ever so slowly Florina raised her head and bit Ninian's neck, her screaming muffled when the next wave of agony hit her.

Sighing in relief Serra returned to her work, occasionally checking to see if Ninian was all right and asking her to move this way or that to get to the next bit of proffered flesh. She noticed Ninian's heavy breathing, but deduced it was from the struggle of keeping Florina down. Soon the healing was done and in its wake it left three exhausted girls. Not really minding or even noticing the blood around them they fell asleep.

The next day dawned bright and early, too bright and way too early in many's opinion. Ninian, Florina, and Serra, still inside the tent, were not awoken by the sun's heavy rays. Instead, awakening came in the form of three buckets of ice water. "Get up! Everyone in the camp is needed," hollered Batre, not at all perturbed by the scene in front of him. Lyn, however, was a different case entirely. "Gah! What happened to you!? YOU'RE COVERED IN BLOOD AND STREWN ABOUT THE ROOM LIKE RAG DOLLS!" Serra groggily sat up from her position on the floor and mumbled, "Heal. yawn too tired to clean. Fell a- yawn- sleep." "Oh. And for a moment I thought… never mind. Anyway they're reviewing the camp and need everyone to attend." With that Lyn and Batre left the tent. Serra left soon too after shaking Ninian and Florina awake since they both went back to sleep. Ninian stirred first and immediately stopped. The first thing she saw when she had opened her eyes was Florina's face, still covered in blood and perspiration. Not only that, but that face was very… very close. "Uh, Florina? Ah, um, we kinda need to get up." Still she didn't move. "Florina! Florina, wake up!" Still nothing. Fed up Ninian leaned close to Florina's ear and whispered "If you don't get up I'll tell Sain that you're still asleep and need a… wake-up call." Faster than a bullet Florina sat up and said in a cheery tone, "SO, what'd I miss?"

"All right everyone, settle down," yelled Eliwood and the crowd fell quiet. "As you can see, we have many faces missing today. I'd like a moment of silence for all those who fell yesterday." A hush fell on the crowned as head were hung and tears were freed. "The battle yesterday showed to us that we need to see this war for what it really is. So far we've done well. But we need to do better; for the lives of those still here. From here on out I'm introducing a thing called a buddy system; it was thought of by our most esteemed generals and myself, of course." Marcus frowned off to the side; he and Eliwood would have a talk soon. "Everyone, pair up with someone and sit down once you have a partner." Around the crowd introductions were made and many began to sit down. "Um," started Florina and she turned to Ninian, "I know we only met yesterday, but, you're the only person around here I'm really comfortable with…" "Sure" accepted Ninian as she grabbed Florina's hand and pulled her to the ground. A blush slashed across Florina's cheeks; she hadn't thought Ninian would agree. And for some reason, Ninian's hand felt really warm and…good…

Ninian sighed in relief; as soon as the words had left Eliwood's mouth he had begun to run over to her. She was all too happy to have Florina as a partner instead. Besides, she was sure Florina would take care of her better than _he _ever would.

Eliwood growled in frustration as he was forced to partner with Marcus. That girl would be _his. _After all, he always got what he wanted.

**R&R Please! **


	4. Bonding

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fire emblem. Also, there is a reference made to the flower, the African violet. Yes, it's actually a flower and it's very beautiful.**

Marcus took over once he saw everyone was seated. "Now," he called, out, gaining everybody's attention, "You will spend the day training with your buddy. Learn about each other. The only way you will survive is if you know your partner. Tomorrow, we will go over group drills, so be prepared. Dis-missed!"

Florin and Ninian paced over to a clearing, a good bit aways from camp. They decided to formulate battle plans first, and then relax with each other when they were tired. Florina's Pegasus followed a short distance behind them, making sure no one followed them. He didn't know why, but that man with red hair gave him the creeps… 

**------With Marcus and Eliwood----**

"Eliwood! Would you sit down? We're supposed to be planning!" Eliwood looked over his shoulder at Marcus. "I'll only be a second. Keep your knickers on." Eliwood crept off into the surrounding woods. Marcus gasped in indignation and with a hot head followed him into the trees. "What do you think you are doing!" he yelled, not caring who heard them. "Lately all you ever do is spy on _her_ and in the process, you ignore your duties, your honor, and your friends. Somehow you've changed, Eliwood, and that's not what's good for the people under YOUR command who depend on you to SURVIVE!" Eliwood made frantic shushing movements at Marcus, hoping to calm Marcus. However, this made him even more furious. "LOOK AT YOURSELF! HOW _DARE _YOU CALL YOURSELF LEADER OF THIS ARMY WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN TAKE YOUR MIND OF _HER_ FOR ONE **SECOND**!" Finally fed up with Eliwood Marcus stalked off, ignoring the curious stares sent his way.

----**With Lyn and Kent----**

"What was that all about?" Lyn questioned, glancing over at Kent. They were situated near the trees where Marcus had been yelling only moments before. "M'lady, I would suspect that a spat has occurred between Commander Marcus and M'lord Eliwood." Lyn nodded; she had thought the same. '_But what were they arguing about?'_ she wondered. A part of Marcus's rant came back to her. '….CAN'T EVEN TAKE YOUR MIND OFF _HER_ FOR ONE **SECOND**!' '_Ah- ha! So Eliwood must have a crush in someone… but who?' _A crash brought her out of her pondering. She and Kent ran over from where the sound had come from to see Eliwood pinned under Florina's Pegasus. '_So it must be Florina!'_

----**With Florina and Ninian, eight hours later----**

"- And so then, she crashed into the room and found them together, playing games! She never did watch them again," Florina finished, peeking over to see Ninian's reaction. As she had hoped Ninian broke out into a fit of 

giggles, falling flat on her back into the lush grass beneath them. For some reason Ninian's giggles made her giggly too, and she surrendered to the feeling and joined her in laughter. They had stopped preparation about a half an hour ago and switched to learning about each other. Now the conversation started around random facts, once the two girls could regain their breath. "So Florina, what's your favorite color?" asked Ninian. "It used to be purple, but I'm starting to like blue more, like an ice blue." Florina looked a little closer at Ninian. "Sort of like the color of your eyes. What about you?" Ninian looked away for a second, appearing to be deep in thought, while in reality she hid her blush. "Um, I like the color of rich violet. It reminds me of a flower called an African violet." "I've never heard of Africa before," said Florina. "I don't really think the place exists," replied Ninian. "It must have been someone's last name." An awkward silence followed as each tried to muster up the courage to say something else. Ninian tugged on her collar and Florina glanced over at her, gasping when Ninian's hand moved away from her neck. 

"Oh my! How in the world did that happen?" fretted Florina, scooting over to the other girl to examine her neck. When Florina tentively reached out and touch her neck, Ninian's world suddenly went fuzzy as her brain spun out if control and her stomach flip- flopped. '_It must be the heat,_' decided Ninian nervously as she gathered her thoughts to reply. "You mean you don't remember?" At the shake of Florina's head, Ninian blushed and retold what had happened after the bandit attack. "- and now here we are. Looking at it-"Ninian turned to look at the mark left by Florina's teeth where she had bit her-"It sort of reminds me of… a hicky." Ninian turned scarlet after she finished and waited for Florina's disgusted reply. Instead, she heard her ask, "What's a hicky?" Ninian shot an incredulous look into Florina's eyes, which were gazing innocently back at her. "You've never heard of a hicky?" To shocked to be embarrassed, Ninian carried on. "A bunk- up- badge? Fuck- suck?" Florina had never heard those terms before, but she caught on and blushed horribly causing Ninian to pause. Florina's next words came out in a bare whisper. "I think I got it now… and what I want to say is… I'm sorry." Florina looked shamefully off to the side but looked up when Ninian put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay; I mean I asked you to do it. Besides, I don't really mind." Florina turned scarlet, sure that Ninian hadn't realized the implication her words gave. Just as Florina was about to speak, Lyn burst into the clearing. For once, Florina wasn't happy to see her long- time friend. She rather enjoyed her time alone with Ninian, and it scared her that Ninian could have such an effect on her.

"Hey, what're you doing?" asked Lyn cautiously, eying the position the two girls were in. Florina was practically sitting in Ninian's lap with her hand on her neck, and Ninian was leaned back, supporting the two of them. Hurriedly the two sprang apart, immediately missing the warmth the other gave. Lyn continued, "Anyway, dinner's about to start. Thought you might want to eat, seeing as you missed lunch." Wonderingly Florina and Ninian glanced up at the sky; part of it was turning dark with bursts of red and orange slashing the rest. They hadn't realized how late it had gotten, so they turned and walked with Lyn back to camp.

**Yes, Lyn is a homophobic, for all those wondering. **


	5. Training

**And here's chapter five. Since I haven't played all the battles in the game, I'm making up my own locations… some of which are **_**very **_**different. There might even be a different universe… eventually.**

**Poll: Should Lyn overcome her homophobic fears?**

**-Yes.**

**-No.**

**-She dies.**

**Thank you to **The Power World Authors' Guild **and **GrimAngelXx **for being my first reviewers ever! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.**

Florina sat next to Ninian gingerly, trying not to aggravate any of her bruises. For the past week the whole company had been pushed past their limits to train the buddy system. They had training from dawn to dusk, having two half- hour beaks and lunch in the middle. Training consisted of dividing into different weapon groups headed by the most proficient in that art to teach their underlings for half the day, halted only by one of their half- hour breaks that were used for breakfast. Then, they would pair up with their partner and everyone would split into two- or sometimes three- groups. A person was selected as the head on a group and that person was responsible for guiding their troops into battle against their 'enemies' (the other groups). This consisted of almost the other half of the day, the last hour being used for conditioning. The mock battles often fell apart into a melee, because the commanders usually weren't suited for command and the partners had to try to comply with each other's fighting styles perfectly. The groups who had known each other the longest faired the best with a few exceptions, while the loose- knit groups were often 'killed' first for getting in each other's way.

Many noticed these problems and began to protest, saying that the army should go back to the way it had been. In response, the lords (being the best suited for leadership) were each given a permanent group to lead and two hours every morning were given to specific partner training. This way, the army had consistent command they could depend on and they were more in tune with their partner. That change had been yesterday, and both Ninian and Florina were secretly grateful for it because it meant they could spend more time together.

"Hey," said Ninian weakly, staring longingly at her tray of food. To combat the army's losses, they urged everyone who couldn't fight to take up a weapon- Ninian had chosen archery, to help shoot down anyone trying to shoot Florina. Fight fire with fire, right? That was what Ninian had to tell herself as she turned her gaze away from her food to her blistered hands.

"Hey," replied Florina as she took in Ninian's predicament. She obviously couldn't feed herself; taking a quick look around the tent, Florina waved slightly to get Ninian's attention. "What if I feed you?" she asked softly, even though no one else was in the tent. Ninian readily agreed and carefully Florina dipped her spoon into Ninian's mashed potatoes, leveling it slowly into Ninian's waiting mouth. She could feel the vibrations as Ninian's teeth softly hit the spoon and watched mesmerized as her lips leisurely encompassed the rest, smiling weakly as Ninian _hmm_ed in pleasure. The ripple produced by that sound traveled up her arm and through her body, making her knees go weak. An image of Ninian doing that to _her_ sprang into Florina's mind and she furiously fought it down, knowing it would come back to haunt her later. Lately these, _visions_, for lack of a better term had begun popping into her head and for the life of her Florina couldn't figure out why. She suspected it was because they were becoming much better friends, and friends had those kinds of thoughts about each other- of course, friends did that all the time. _Friends_ she told herself firmly and resumed feeding Ninian, ignoring the sinking feeling her heart gave her.

"Thank you," said Ninian after her plate was cleared. She was sharply aware of Florina's eyes on her as she smoothed back her hair and pushed her plate to the side with her feet. As she turned to face Florina she looked into her eyes and paused as they suddenly turned several shades darker. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned, for from where she came from darkening eyes meant danger.

"I'm well," replied Florina, her voice coming out huskily, sending shivers down Ninian's spine. "Good," said Ninian, tearing her stare away from Florina and laying back on the bedroll. Her thoughts came back in a jumbled heap; what just happened? Florina lay down beside her and for a moment, Ninian could feel the heat coming off her. Then the cool night air swished it away and replaced it with a sense of sleep, ensnaring the two girls swiftly.

"Everyone UP!" Eliwood bellowed as he stalked through camp. Today was the day they would be on the move again, and the Lords knew he would be looking forward to it. Ever since he had lost Ninian to Florina in the buddy system, he was jealous that they would spend every waking moment together. And as he walked into their tent to wake them, he found they apparently spent every sleeping moment together too. Eliwood stared at the two girls entwined in front of him, grinding his teeth furiously. Ninian was supposed to be _his_. _He_, who found her and Nils and rescued them from peril as the hero he painted himself out to be. And in return, she was obligated to praise _him_, spend time with _him_, fawn over_ him_. Instead, she choose to be with Florina, a shy Pegasus rider from Ilia. What did she have that he didn't? He, Lord Eliwood of Pherae, held a title, lands, and… their past.

In his loudest roar Eliwood yelled, "WHAT PART OF _UP_ DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!" The soldiers already assembled sniggered behind their hands; someone was getting chewed out by Lord Eliwood. Most of the sniggering stopped when they heard a shriek followed by a loud SLAP and Eliwood staggered out of the tent, a hand cradling his burning cheek.

Florina, coming out half dressed, shouted in a rare show of anger "YOU COULD HAVE AT LEAST ASKED IF WE WERE DECENT! FOR ALL YOU KNOW, WE COULD HAVE BEEN CHANGING!" Florina stopped there, reeling 

herself in. She didn't know why she suddenly yelled like that, but one look at Eliwood solved it. He was glaring at her with pure hate, and in turn a fury rose in her veins to meet the challenge he presented. If he thought he could peep on her and Ninian, he had another thing coming. Lyn arrived with Kent and upon seeing the stare down she asked the soldier next to her what happened. As he retold the scene Ninian, fully dressed, came out rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked sleepily. Her intervention broke the stare down and Eliwood stalked off, yelling orders to get moving. Florina softly explained what happened, and with each passing word the expression on Ninian's face got darker and darker. Suddenly they heard the trumpets call for muster, and they realized they were still in their night clothes. They raced to their tent and changed quickly, grabbing their gear and rolling up their tent. Arriving just as the last orders were said, they fell in the back on their legion which was headed by Hector. "Move out!" he yelled, and they were off.

"It's so hot," a soldier beside Ninian complained. Ninian nodded absently and glanced at Florina who was riding her Pegasus. It was indeed hot, sweltering hot, but Ninian wasn't complaining. The intense heat made Florina's skin- tight clothes cling to her even more. Ninian watched as a bead of sweat made its way down Florina's curvaceous body, ignoring the soldier chattering beside her. Noticing Ninian's stare, Florina blushed shyly and asked, "If you want, you can ride with me." Ninian nodded eagerly and climbed upon the Pegasus, almost groaning in relief when her legs loosened up. Florina felt the groan stifled inside the other girl and shuddered involuntarily, her breath hitching in a gasp when she felt Ninian's arms circle around her. "So I don't fall off," Ninian explained, a promptly dozed off. Florina had a feeling that she did that on purpose.

They finally arrived at Castle Reichen, where Eliwood called for a stop. Ninian and Florina crept up close to where the leaders were conferencing, wondering what their new orders would be. "Absolutely not! We have been on good terms with Marquess Throi and his daughter for far too long! We can't attack them!" they heard Marcus yell in a forced whisper, anger evident on his face.

"But they might have information on where my father is!" exclaimed Eliwood. "Besides, shouldn't we strike a blow against the enemy?"

"The enemy!? Eliwood, I've met the Marquess, and he doesn't seem like an enemy," replied Hector.

"You never know who could be under Nergal's mind control. Plus, the troops need the experience."

"Yeah- experience killing _innocents_!"

"Marcus, this is no longer your decision. It's now between Lyn, Hector and I," spat Eliwood. Florina and Ninian looked at each other in shock, then turned back to where the lords were discussing. "We attack!" urged Eliwood. Ninian could see indecision in Lyn's eyes, but Hector was firmly against it.

"I don't like this, Eliwood. What's gotten into you?" he asked, concern in his expression.

"I'm perfectly fine, Hector. Well Lyn? It's up to you."

"I think we should attack." See the disgust on Hector's face she rushed to defend herself. "I've never met Marquess Throi, but Eliwood's right. Nergal could have already gotten to him."

"It's decided then," grinned Eliwood. "We attack tomorrow." Ninian and Florina crept back to the campsite, scared of what the morrow would bring.


End file.
